American favourite around this time. If you cannot find Pecans substitute Walnuts

Ingredients

Pastry:

- 175g. Flour

- 75g butter

- 3 tbs. water

- 1 Egg

Filling:

- 225g Golden Syrup

- 110g Brown sugar

- 2 Eggs

- 1 tsp Vanilla Essence

- 120g Butter(melted)

- 100g Pecans

Method

You will need an 8" tart tin.

First make the pastry either by rubbing the butter into the flour by hand or in a food processor. Add the water to bind. Let this rest for 30 minutes, then use it to line an 8" tart tin (be sure to allow a generous overlap to allow for shrinkage). Line with tinfoil and something to weigh it down and bake it blind in a moderate oven (Gas 6, 200 C, 400 F) for 10 to 15 minutes until it is firm. Take off the foil, paint the inside with a beaten egg and put back in the oven for 5 minutes to cook. This forms a barrier

Trim the fennel and peel the onion and put them to sweat with the butter and tomatoes and saffron/ turmeric until they are soft.

Rinse the mussels free of all sand and remove their beards (if they have them - a lot of the modern farmed ones don't which makes life much easier). Put these with the wine or water in a large pot with a lid and put them on a high heat.

Let them boil and continue cooking until they are all open. Strain the mussel juices through a sieve with a cloth to remove all the grit.

Good warming soup for cold autumn evenings. Enough for supper with bread.

ingredients

- 1 bulb of Fennel

- 1 onion

- Half pound Tomatoes

- 2 oz. Butter

- 3 lbs. Mussels

- 1 glass White wine (or water)

- 2 streaky rashers grilled and crumbled.

method

Trim the fennel and peel the onion and put them to sweat with the butter and tomatoes and saffron/ turmeric until they are soft.

Rinse the mussels free of all sand and remove their beards (if they have them - a lot of the modern farmed ones don't which makes life much easier). Put these with the wine or water in a large pot with a lid and put them on a high heat.

Let them boil and continue cooking until they are all open. Strain the mussel juices through a sieve with a cloth to remove all the grit.

A very simple Kedgeree which can be put together quickly for supper or lunch. This freezes well and reheats easily when you don't want to cook.

ingredients

(for 4 as a starter, 3 as a main course)

- 500g (1 lb 2 oz.) Smoked Haddock (preferably Undyed)

- 110g (4 oz.) Streaky Rashers

- 2 Med Onions

- 225g (9 oz.) Risotto Rice

- 2 oz. Butter

- 60g (2oz.) Freshly Grated parmesan.

method

Poach the Haddock in 1litre (2 pints) water for 15 minutes. Take out the Haddock but put the stock back on the lowest heat. Once the fish cools remove all bones and skin and roughly flake it into chunks.

Chop the rashers finely and fry in half the butter until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon but leave the fat in the pan. Peel and chop the onions finely and add to the pan with the remaining butter. Cook the onion gently for

This is a delicious starter for a party when you want to impress. It is delicious and much easier than you would think.

ingredients (for 4 as a starter(

- 350g Puff Pastry

- 225g (8 oz.) Smoked Salmon (thinly sliced)

- 110g (4 oz.) Cream Cheese

- 110g (4 oz.) Fromage Frais

- Juice Half Lemon

- 2 teaspoons Good Horseradish sauce

- Bunch Fresh Dill

- Generous grating Black Pepper

- 2 Large cooked Beetroot (preferably not in vinegar)

method

Set oven to 200C, 400F. Gas 6 Roll the pastry into roughly the size of a swiss roll tin. Lay this on a baking sheet and cover with another sheet to stop it rising. Bake at the set temperature for 20 minutes, then remove the top sheet and bake for another 5 minutes to brown. Leave to cool then, cut into 8 even rectangles.

Nothing quite as comforting as a crumble. Strangely the French have taken to the crumble with enthusiasm

and they frequently appear on menus here for the last few years.

ingredients

- 250g. Flour

- 125g. Butter

- 175g. Caster sugar

- 400g Pears

- 400g Blackberries

- 100g Caster sugar

method

Mix the flour and the sugar together and cut the butter into little cubes. Using just the tips of your fingers rub the butter into the flour until the mixture is like breadcrumbs. (You can also do this in a food processor)

Peel the pears and cut into slices. Mix with the blackberries and the sugar. Put this fruit mixture in the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the crumble mixture and pre heat the oven to 200C / 400F / Gas 7. Cook in the preheated oven for 35 to

Peel the onion and then reduce it to as fine a puree as you can in a liquidizer or chop finely by hand. Fry this gently for at least 20 minutes until the onion is sweet. Let this cool.

Mix together the onion puree with the beef, and all the other ingredients and make it into 8 patties, flatten these well with your hands. Cook these either on a barbecue, or on a grill pan or under a hot grill, if you can char them a little on the outside it

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The Government wants us to vote "yes" in the abortion referendum in order to delete unborn children's right to life and allow abortion on demand in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion campaigners claim that there is no human being yet alive by this point. That's why they think abortion on demand is permissible.They are completely wrong. By 12 weeks the baby in the womb has a beating heart, can swallow and yawn, can kick, stretch and jump, has arms, legs, fingers and toes, has fingernails and hair, h …